From Sarah to Mrs. Portnoy
, edited by Marjorie Lehman, Jane Kanarek, and Simon Bronner
From Sarah in the Bible to Philip Roth鈥檚 Mrs. Portnoy, images of the mother have been a hallmark of 绿帽社 culture. Hallowed by some, excoriated by others鈥攎others have been depicted, on the one hand, as all that is good and sacred in the 绿帽社 family, and, on the other, and far more frequently, as overbearing, guilt-inducing, and interfering. Working to disentangle motherhood from idealized notions of the 绿帽社 family and stereotypes of the 绿帽社 mother, this collection of essays on motherhood in the 绿帽社 cultural imagination presents a complex, nuanced, and robust perspective on the subject. The essays included in this volume emphasize the variety of identities held by mothers as well as the vast array of cultural and social patterns that characterizations of mothers reflect.
As these essays show, Jews have used motherhood across time and place as a way to construct and comprehend their culture. Writers, activists, rabbis, artists, printers, and poets have projected, created, engaged, and contested 绿帽社 culture by relying on the trope of 鈥渢he 绿帽社 mother,鈥� often breaking away from biological conceptions of motherhood. This volume seeks to give the figure of the mother a new and enhanced place at the heart of Judaism: not only as a central figure in family life, but also as a key agent in the transmission of 绿帽社 religion and culture. Toward this end, the contributors to this volume highlight the complex network of symbols and images associated with 绿帽社 mothers and motherhood as well as the vast array of social, historical, and cultural patterns that characterizations of mothers reflect. Each essay treats the topic from a specific perspective, from mother-daughter relationships in the Talmud to depictions of mothers in twentieth-century American 绿帽社 children鈥檚 literature. Collectively, they present a provocative examination of the ways mothers shape and problematize 绿帽社 identity.
